


The Woman John Mitchell Loved

by soitgoes



Category: Being Human (UK)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-24
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-10 15:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/467623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soitgoes/pseuds/soitgoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He couldn’t hurt her even if he tried and he loved that about her. AU Annie/Hal</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He hadn't actually ever met the vampire called John Mitchell. Hal had heard of him and he knew his story. The Old Ones made it a point to know all the gorey details about those who were climbing the ranks. There was quite a racket made about him back when had just been made in early 1900s.

Rumor had that this Mitchell character was the most ruthless, soulless, evil bastard since…well since Hal himself. And what could one expect being made by that weasel Herrick? He was a slimy one that little blonde bastard. The two of them, Herrick and Mitchell, kept making a ruckus all the way until Hal's departure from the vampire ranks. And that was the last time he had heard of John Mitchell.

So it was strange now to look at her, this little ghost, Annie, and know that the vampire John Mitchell had loved her.

She was too nice, too soft. All dressed in gray she looked like a sickly rain cloud that could disperse at any moment. When he thought of the name John Mitchell all he could bring to mind was Monster, Herrick's boy, killer, murderer,  _vampire_  but not Annie's lover, or boyfriend or whatever they call it nowadays.

It is far too absurd for him to comprehend so he just doesn't. He pushes the fact to the back of his mind until Kirby comes along and mucks up their precariously balanced coexistence. That's when things start to come together and fall apart. That's when the midnight conversations begin and he really starts to see her, the woman John Mitchell loved.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

He should have seen it coming. Leo was dead; Pearl had crossed over and now he was all alone. He should have seen this coming but hadn't and that, now _that_ hurt.

No. It didn't hurt. It just thoroughly pissed him off. It pissed him off so much that he could just-

_Kill somebody._

And he had tried, he really had but they wouldn't let him, the ghost and the wolf. After the fact he would look back and feel wholly embarrassed by the ordeal but at that moment with the feel and sound of that irritating little shop keeper's veins running through his head all Hal felt was annoyed. The wolf had a stake pressed against his torso and that bloody stupid girl was squawking some nonsense about the man Tom's father wanted him to be, the man Leo wanted Hal to be.

He could have almost laughed. Man? They weren't men. They were monsters and she was a dead girl. What was the point of trying?

Then the boy lowered his stake and for a moment Hal thought about pulling the trigger. It would have been easy enough and oh how glorious it would fee. But the gun suddenly felt heavy in his hands and he lowered his weapon as well. As they made their way home, a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire, Hal suddenly felt embarrassed. If he had any blood left he was sure it would have rushed to his cheeks coloring him pink.

Annie made tea. She did that quite often, Hal noticed. The three of them sat down together all so close and yet in his or her own little worlds.

"Kiwi and strawberry, it's been that sort of day," she said.

Hal had no idea what she meant by that and he really didn't care. 

Later on after Tom had announced that he was heading to bed and Annie reminded him to wash up before he even thought about touching his sheets, he asked her about the previous tenants.

"What do you mean?" Annie said staring into the pink liquid in her mug.

"You said that you had lived with others here," he continued, "before Tom and before Eve, before Leo, Pearl and I. Who were they?"

He asked because he could still feel them there. He could still smell them in the walls and carpets, even the warm mug in his hand tasted of another person.

"Their names were George, Nina and Mitchell," she said wistfully and he took a second to glance at her.

And then he saw a gilmmer of who Annie was beneath the guise of homemaker and ghost. She was still woman somewhere beneath the mask she hid behind. 

"George Sands, Nina Pickering and John Mitchell."

He almost dropped his cup.

"John Mitchell?" he said absolutely flabbergasted, "as in the vampire John Mitchell?"

"Yes," she said looking just as confused but nowhere near as shocked, "did you know him?"

"No, not personally," he replied, "but I had heard of him."

Annie giggled uncertainly.

"All good I hope," she said as though she were speaking of her relative or brother.

"No," he said.

"Oh," Annie said her head dropping down to look at the mug again.

"He lived here? With you? and your friends?" Hal asked trying to understand the situation as best as he could.

"Well he was my friend as well and then he was," she paused he thought it was because she felt awkward but when he looked up he noticed that she was just sad very very sad, "then he was more."

More? They were _more_?

Annie's eyes began to shine but she wiped the tears away before they could fully form saying, "and then he was gone. End of story."

In his haze of disbelief and shock, Hal remembered to be cordial. It was customary in those situations to show sympathy.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he recited.

"Yea thanks," she said and then she got up and left him alone to think on the new information.

John Mitchell? John Mitchell had lived there, with a ghost and werewolves? When he thought of the name John Mitchell all he could bring to mind was Monster, Herrick's boy, killer, murderer, _vampire_. Not friend, housemate, _lover_.

What a strange place he had stumbled upon, a strange place indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after A Specter Calls

"I just want something good for a change," she said after he offered to bare his soul to her, his _soul_ , at least what's left of it.

He had been sad and offended by her rejection. So much so that he had almost ruined everything.  He had lost control.

Hal had offered her _everything,_ his shame, his horror and all of his secrets and she just turned him away. She hushed him and refused to hear him out. He was offering her the truth but the truth didn't matter all that much to Annie, Hal was beginning to learn. But that was something Hal understood perfectly. Vampires were all about deception both the deception of others and self. He knew what it was like to want something good.

"Well he is compared to –" she said but stopped.

 _What was she going to say?_ He wondered afterwards.

She had been looking at him but she could have been thinking of someone else. So he made a point to ask her about it. 

* * *

 

"Was it complicated with John?" he said to Annie as they sat in together in the living room.

Tom had decided to go to bed after a slice of cake and their weekly episode of Antiques Roadshow. Annie had explained to Hal early on that she didn't sleep often and after all the excitement neither he nor she were too keen on the idea of sleep.

"John?" she said confused at first but then realization hit, "ooooh you mean _Mitchell_."

"He was your lover and yet you call him by his last name," Hal said and although the idea was a bit strange it seemed like a very _Annie_ thing to do.

"Oh well everyone called him Mitchell," she explained smiling fondly over the memory of her dead boyfriend, "I imagine even his mum called him that."

"But he was your lover," Hal said still confused unable to grasp the idea, "are you not supposed to be closer to him than everyone else? Even his mother?"

"Oh. Well," Annie said a little loss for words, "we weren't really _lovers_ I suppose not in the traditional sense, the physical sense. You know me being dead and all-"

"He was dead also," Hal interjected, "couldn't he see and touch you?"

"Well yes," Annie said her mind racing trying to figure out a way to explain _Mitchell_ to someone who had never met him, "but it wasn't like that with him and me. We didn't…you know…I mean we tried but it just wasn't there."

"You didn't want to have sex?" Hal said.

"Well _I_ did," Annie said quickly, "he was a dish!"

An awkward moment passed as Annie's cheeks flushed. How strange it was that she could still blush. Hal could never quite grasp how ghosts worked. Hal's eyebrows crunched together as he stared at Annie with that universal expression of TMI.

"Not that you really care about that," Annie said fumbling to regain some kind of semblance of grace, "it was just that Mitchell didn't want me like that. I guess he just wasn't attracted to me that way."

"You are attractive, though," Hal said he never did like it when people were self pitying it annoyed him though on Annie it was almost endearing, "you are aesthetically very pleasing."

"Thanks…Hal," Annie said suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken, "but for Mitchell sex always translated to violence. It always came down to blood and he didn't want that with me at least that's what he told me."

"You didn't believe him?" Hal asked unable to hold back his curiosity.

He had never met another vampire who had given up blood. He had never had the chance to speak with anyone besides Leo and Pearl who had lived with a dry vampire. Hal wanted to know who John Mitchell was and what better way to find out than from the woman John Mitchell had loved.

"I'm not sure," Annie said her eyes glazing as she began to remember the other vampire.

"Things were strange in the end," she said, "Mitchell, he…he lied about a lot of things and I – I didn't really mind that. I've been lied to before. Boyfriends, mum, dad, everyone lies. But Mitchell's lies they caught up to him in a big way."

"Is that what made the relationship complicated," Hal asked, "his lies?"

A look of concentration came upon Annie's face as she searched for the answer. She wanted to know just as much as Hal if not more so.

"No, not only that" Annie responded speaking quickly afraid that if she didn't get out her answer quick enough then she would lose hold of it, "it was a lot of things. A lot of different terrible things and I – I was willing to stand besides him through it all. I would have sat with him for eternity in a jail cell, or cave or bloody public restroom stall if that was what would satisfy him but it was just..."

She trailed off a pained expression this time gracing her features. She didn't want to say it. It hurt to say it.

"It was just that he didn't want to," Annie said finally coming to terms with the facts, "he didn't want to keep living. He said we were for eternity but that's not what he meant. Mitchell said a lot of things he didn't really mean."

She couldn't stop the tears this time. One fell and then another; they rolled down her cheeks and then down to her chin where they fell and hit the couch only not really. The couch remained unchanged; there were no tear stains or wet spots. She left behind no evidence of ever even being there. Such was the curse of being a ghost.

Hal wanted to comfort her. He really did. He wanted to reach out and pat her on the back or touch her shoulder; he wanted to make contact but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Hal didn't like being touched and he liked touching even less. Nevertheless he wanted to make her stop crying.

"He sounds," Hal said feeling around for the right word, "he sounds very _human_."

Annie laughed. It was a strange sound filled with mucus and tears and sadness but a laugh nonetheless.

"Yea," she said still half choking and half laughing, "he was probably the most human person I ever knew."

He knew the conversation was over then and he said no more. They sat in companionable silence each lost in his and her own world.

Annie thought about a pink house in Bristol and IKEA couches. She thought about light blue scrubs and a blond woman with a sharp tongue. She thought about Nina the only girl friend she ever really had or liked. She was so strong and stubborn and _pretty_. She was everything Annie wanted to be. She remembered George and not as he was just before the end but as the man he was before. Smart and kind and funny and thoughtful, always had something to add in he did, a quip waiting in the wing, that's the George she remembered. She remembered him as one half of their vampire fighting team, the gayest ninjas _ever_. She remembered him as the poor lost soul broken by tooth and claw that rose again to live and build a life with Mitchell and her.

And she remembered Mitchell. Oh did she remember him. Annie had come to terms with the fact that she'd probably never forget him. She remembered his smell: aftershave, soap, a hint of sweat and cigarette smoke. She remembered the way he spoke stretching out the sounds of his vowels so that everyone knew he was a proud Irish man. That beautiful man, he was dead and gone and yet he still managed to make her breath hitch.

She remembered him so very well every line and detail stitched and sown into the very fabric of her being. Annie would remember them all until the day she melted away into the air or walked through her door. They would never be dead as long as Annie walked the Earth.

Hal thought of many things as well though his trail of thought was perhaps not as pleasant or uplifting. Hal thought about everything he had heard about John Mitchell and the first time he had ever met Herrick. It was like shaking hands with a snake. Hal thought about Leo and how very much he missed his friend.

Hal remembered every horrible sin he committed and every lie he told. He would have told Annie all of those things, laid out his dastardly deeds in detail all before her eyes but now he wasn't so keen on the idea. Why? He didn't know. All he knew was that he didn't want for her to think of him the way she thought of John Mitchell.

Hal didn't want to be the ghost of the man she had loved and lost.

"I wish I could have known him," Hal said interrupting Annie's memories, "I think I we would have had much to discuss."

He was telling the truth. Although she didn't always use it, Annie did have a good judge of character. If she had loved John Mitchell, truly and honestly loved him, then he must have been a good man. Hal couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit jealous. To be thought of as the most human person a person like Annie had ever met, to be loved so deeply and purely, Hal had never known what that was like, not in the whole of his existence.

Hal would have liked to have known the man capable of having all that.

"I would have liked that, Hal," Annie said smiling at him her eyes just a tab bit puffy and completely red, "I really would."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starts during the deleted scene of the exchange between Hal and Adam just before Adam leaves

Hal had finally met another clean vampire unfortunately it just so happned to be Adam. Perhaps the word _clean_ was not the term he would use to describe Adam. _Twat_ or perhaps as Annie had called him, _knob,_ would have been a more appropriate word.

Adam was a little bastard for sure but he too had chosen to jump on the wagon. He had chosen not to kill, not to feed, to go against his very nature. Surely there must be some virture in his company, Hal thought. 

"Show me the lute?" Adam asked and Hal complied.

Hal sat the younger vampire down and went grab his lute.

"So did you know the others?" Adam asked before Hal could even start the basics.

Hal rolled his eyes at the eternal teenager's attempt to stall. If he didn't learn now how to focus his murderous intent then the boy would never be able to suppress the cravings.

"Adam if you're not serious about this then it's best if you just-"

"Look don't dance around the question," Adam said his tone sharp and stern.

Hal nearly began to stutter he was so startled by the boy's sudden change in demeanor. He froze with his lute in hand in front of the younger vampire.

"She doesn't look right anymore, Annie, I mean. She looks like a severed limb or something just walkin' about like she's okay," Adam said rubbing the back of his head.

Hal was surprised at the vampire's astute observation. Hal had noticed that there was something of a hollowness about Annie but he had figured it was because she was a ghost. All the ghosts he had come across had been a bit absent. She had never really spoken of friends only mentioning them once or twice besides the conversation they had had last week.

"No, I didn't get a chance to meet them," Hal said taking a seat besides Adam, "but you did?"

Hal instantly thought of John Mitchell whose presence still haunted the halls of Honolulu Heights. Then the other two came to mind as well, two faceless beings who were always around, always _watching_. He hardly knew anything about them, even Tom had had some kind of connection to the werewolves having met and known them before their deaths.

"Yea but only for a bit. George and Nina," Adam said a great sadness falling over the vampire as he spoke the names of his fallen friends, "they were really something, even Mitchell, though he was sort of a prick."

"And Annie?" Hal said suddenly very curious about the old regime and just a tad bit irritated that the little twat knew more about the people he lived with than he did.

"A right nice piece of –"

"All right that's enough," Hal said taking up his lute but before he could get down to the task of teaching Adam the basics the younger vampire had not finished yet.

"She doesn't look right," Adam said echoing his earlier statement, "without the others. I don't understand why she's still here can't she just – you know poof her door or something?"

"No, she can't _poof her door_ ; it doesn't work like that," Hal said irritated even further by his crude comments, "besides she has Eve and Tom and me."

"Yea but can you imagine-" Adam began but Hal cut him off.

"I don't have to," Hal said effectively silencing the other vampire, "I know exactly what that feels like but I'm still here because – because I have Annie, Tom and Eve now.

"And that's what people do, Adam. When they lose everything they find something else, they find _someone_ else. That's what you will have to do one day because nothing and no one stays forever. It's just the natural order of things. We keep on. Annie isn't just going to abandon us because she's sad. She wouldn't _do_ that. She just wouldn't."

Adam leaned away from the older vampire. His eyes were wide and nostrils flaired. His mouth was quirked up on the right side as he gave Hal the queerest look. He didn't exactly get what just happened and where the elder vampire's outburst had come from. In fact, he had been confused from the moment he showed up and Hal had to tell him the others were dead. The whole house seemed wrong and Annie along with it.

And maybe that's why he had decided to take up the lute and whatever other fucked up hobbies the elder vampire was willing to pass on. Maybe Adam was scared because if Annie, Mitchell, George and Nina couldn't make it then he had a snowball's chance in Hell. Maybe the freaky bastard with the hair cut from the 15th century was right. Maybe there was nothing that could save them. Maybe he'd live and die a monster but that was too shitty to have to believe. Adam was an optimist at heart. He'd pray or something for the others and he'd wish Annie the best. That's all a dead man can do.

"Look," Adam said after a while, "I don't know what's going on with this house anymore. It's not really my place to say anything about your situation. Maybe you should just get on with teaching me the glute- "

"The _lute_ ," Hal corrected.

"Yea yea sure just teach me will ya?" Adam said desperate to diffuse the situation.

Hal assented and the two got on with playing. Much to both the vampires' surprise Adam wasn't shit at the lute in fact he was quite good.

* * *

"I am actually going to miss him you know," Annie said as she stood at the bar lost in thought, "Adam is a perverted little twat but he does mean well."

Hal couldn't understand her seniment. He would definitely not be missing the vulgar little arse but he couldn't shake the feeling that he had missed out on an opportunity, to do what he didn't know.

"Really does bring back memories," she said trailing off to go and find her friends somewhere in her memories.

Hal wondered briefly with all the time that she had all alone in that house just how much of her time did she spend off in her memories. Did she always visit her friends there the way he visited his victims? Did she say sorry like he did? Or did she see John Mitchell? Did she kiss him and hold him and tell him about her day?

Whatever she did during her free time Hal wasn't about to let her drift off at that moment.

"I put the furniture back in all the right places, upstairs I mean," Hal said effectively disconnecting Annie from the past, "I'm sorry about all that I just didn't want to do anything – _reckless_."

His dream had been terrifying. The thought of harming Tom or Eve was unspeakably disturbing but somehow Annie barely even made an appearance. She had been so utterly unaware of everything in his dream.

_It scares me thinking about what you've done and what you could do…_

… _so I'm choosing to ignore it._

It still stung a bit but it made sense. Annie was very sad but he and Tom had decided to ignore it because Annie ignored it and he supposed it had worked. But he was beginning to fear that her method of ignorance and avoidance wouldn't work for much longer. What if she did leave? What if it was just he and Tom and little baby Eve? No more rota, no more tea and grey cardigans.

"Adam said something earlier," Hal said once again dislodging Annie from her thoughts, "he said that you didn't look right, he said that you looked like a severed limb without the others."

The Others that's what he had taken to referring to them as. They seemed so distant and strange to him. A choir of furies to remind him constantly that there was still so much he didn't know.

"He said _what_ ," Annie said now fully invested and just a little bit pissed, "he said I looked like a _what_ that little twat I swear if I ever see him again I'll-"

"He was right though, Annie," Hal said stopping her mid-rant, "you walk around here sometimes like you're some kind of a-"

"Ghost?" Annie said finishing his sentence for him, "That's what I _am_ , Hal. I'm a ghost, ghosting is what I do."

"But you're not just a ghost, you're a mother," Hal said and although Annie began to protest he continued, "you _are_ Annie, that little girl is going to look at you one day and call you mum. And you're important to Tom and me as well. You've given us a home and a family. You aren't just a severed limb to us, Annie."

Hal stepped closer as he spoke but not too close, never too close. He retreated and sat down on one of the cushioned chairs in the parlor.

"Hal why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?" Annie said feeling a bit uneasy about where the conversation was going.

"I'm bringing this up because I'm," Hal started but he suddenly felt unsure of what he was about to say, "I'm scared Annie. I'm scared that if you keep going on this way one day you'll just wear yourself down and disappear."

A look of shock sat upon Annie's features as she listened to Hal's confession and then shock gave way to sympathy. She moved around and out of the bar to go to him. She wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know how. Hal had made it quite obvious in the past that he didn't like to be touched. So she opted to just be by his side as a way of assuring him that she was _there_.

"I'm not going anywhere," Annie said by Hal's side her hand hovering over his shoulder, "I've still got you lot to take of don't I?"

Annie didn't know if she should just touch him. Hal had always made those strange faces, faces of utter and complete discomfort when she had touched him before. Hal had his hands on his knees gripping the fabric covering them like they were lifelines. His eyes were squeezed shut and Annie could only think of one way to comfort the poor man.

"I'm not going to leave," Annie said placing one hand on his shoulder gingerly gauging his reaction, "I promise."

Hal let out a soft breath of air as her hand made contact but he showed no sign of discomfort so Annie let her hand slide around to his other shoulder pulling him into a one-armed hug. She was surprised when she felt a hand softly squeeze her hip and then another grip the edge of her gray cardigan.

"Hal what have you been doing to yourself?" Annie asked suddenly fearful for whatever was going on with Hal must have been huge if he was letting someone touch him.

Hal didn't know how to answer her question. It had become an obsession, his need to understand the old patrons of the house, to understand John Mitchell and everything that brought about his demise. Just like his obsession with dominoes and the placement of spoons on the counter he had used it to distract him.

They used to be harmless, his obsessions, in fact it was his dedication to those obsessions that had kept him in line all those years with Leo and Pearl but now they had somehow managed to break him.

"I don't know what I've been doing, Annie," Hal mumbled his ear only just pressed against the soft cool of Annie's stomach, "I've been trying to understand, I've just been trying to understand."

"Understand what, Hal?" Annie replied her voice very low and soft.

"Understand how we keep going," Hal said pulling back away from her to look her in the eyes, "I don't understand how we're still here. Tom, you and I we've lost _everything_ Annie even Eve has lost her parents but we're all still here."

Annie looked into Hal's eyes and saw what she had been trying to avoid ever since Nina, Mitchell and George had gone. It was the question, the ultimate question.

_Why are you still here?_

"I don't know Hal," Annie said ghosting her fingers over the shell of Hal's ear, an intimate gesture of comfort, "I don't know why I didn't just go up in smoke the moment George walked through his door or why I didn't just go with him. I don't know why I didn't just _die_ the moment Mitchell crumbled right in front of my eyes but it must mean _something_. It must mean that I've still got something to do here. So I guess we keep going because we have to, Hal. We have to."

Her answer seemed to strike a cord within him. His hand dropped from her hip and he let go of her cardigan. His eyes dropped down to the floor as he processed the new information.

Was that it? They kept going simply because they had to? Because something, some invisible force was behind them pushing them forward. Is that what he had to believe to be content, to be _happy_.

That's when a cry broke the silence and moment was ruined.

"Oh! I better go check on her," Annie said but did not move she hesitated and then added, "Hal will you be all right?"

"Of course," he said not all there at first but then he snapped out of whatever daze he had been in, "I'll be just fine."

Annie smiled at him before turning to walk towards the stairs. Then a thought hit Hal and he realized that he really did want to say it this time. He wanted to tell her and mean it. He wanted her to know that he meant every word.

"Annie," he said and she stopped and turned to look at him, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Hal," Annie whispered hoarsely suddenly overcome with a sense of loss and longing, "And I'm sorry as well, I'm so sorry for everything."

Hal nodded and Annie went to Eve leaving him alone with his thoughts. She had been just a little gray ghost to him at first. Then after he had found out about John Mitchell he saw her simply as the woman who had loved John Mitchell but now things had changed again.

Not only was she the woman who loved John Mitchell but she was the woman John Mitchell had loved. She was the woman who had lost her entire family, her _home_ but had managed to create a new one. Hal was beginning to see her not only as some woman who had loved and lost but as his friend. He was beginning to see her as  _Annie_.


	5. A Day Out, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little break from the drama

“I think we should do somethin’ nice for Annie,” Tom said one morning while they were opening up the shop, “when’s ‘er birthday, do ya think?”

“How should I know?”  Hal replied from behind the counter where he was rearranging all of the condiments and cutlery.

“Well I was thinkin’ we should do somethin’ nice for ‘er since she’s always doin’ so much around the ‘ouse and cleaning and doin’ laundry –“

"Yes Tom I am well aware of the tasks that Annie performs on a daily basis," he responded quite sourly.

Tom turned to look at Hal. He could smell trouble coming.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, mate?" Tom said both understanding and just a little bit pissed.

Hal sighed and looked at the young werewolf who had already been inspecting his vampire friend. Hal liked Tom, he really did. The werewolf was everything the stereotypical werewolf should be. He had a roguish accent and a rough style of dress, all wife beaters and baggy pants.And yet he was sweet. Hal had seen the way Tom was with Eve; Hal knew Tom could be gentle. He could be strong and steady yet kind and sweet. He could also be blunt as hell.

"Nothing, I've just been thinking," Hal replied tightly.

"'ave ya?" Tom said excitedly, "I've been thinkin' too. I've been thinkin' we should do something nice for Annie. You know like to thank 'er for everything and such."

Hal sighed in both irritation and defeat. The boy was obviously not going to get off the subject so Hal had two choices a) ignore him and continue on shinning the tea spoons or b) play along.

The teaspoons had already been shined.

"All right what did you have in mind?" Hal asked.

Tom smiled came slow and sly. For some reason Hal felt just the slightest bit scared. He should have just gone with the spoons.

* * *

Annie began everyday with a nice hot cup of tea, she couldn't drink it of course but Hal knew she liked her routine. Hal was a man who had always appreciated detail and he therefore paid great attention to the details of his housemates' lives.

He could hear her every morning as she moved about the house. He could just imagine her checking every nook and crannie for any monsters or ghouls. Always searching for something she could never find, something that terrified her. Hal didn't know what it was but he wished he could find it for her. She would walk past his door lean in as if listening and waiting for something. Then she would walk over to Tom's door and do the same.

"Just checking up on my boys," Annie had said when he had asked her about it.

It was a sweet gesture if not a bit invasive. Annie was that way, invasive. It had driven him mad at first but he got over it. He got over it the same way he got over Tom's morning vampire-killing practice and the way he could find no peace and quiet during his weekly yoga session. He suspected Annie and Tom watched him and giggled about it behind his back. Uncultured fools.

Hal's day usually started exactly 33 minutes after Annie started down to fix herself her daily cup of tea but on one particular morning he decided to start early. On the morning after Tom had made his suggestion Hal was waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Good morning," Hal greeted from his seat at the table as Annie walked through the double doors.

"Oh!" Annie said startled by the interruption in her routine, "Oh, Hal you scared me what are you doing up so early?"

"I'm always up this early I just never come out of my room until later," Hal responded to which Annie could only say 'oh'.

Annie had been a bit careful around him after his break down a few days ago.

"So what are you doing down here so early?" Annie asked obviously uncomfortable with the silence.

"I've come to warn you about Tom," Hal said taking a sip from the mug of tea he had just prepared, "I've made tea."

Annie gave Hal a questioning stare but he said nothing of an answer. So Annie fixed herself a mug. She sat down across from him placing her mug on the small table between them. He smiled at her. Of course the small twitch upwards of the corners of his mouth could just as easily be received as grimace.

"So what's up with Tom then," Annie said wrapping her hands around the warm mug.

She couldn't technically feel the warmth but she knew that's how it should feel.

"Nothing bad but he has a surprise for you," Hal replied, "I just thought you should be prepared."

"Oh gosh is this about the pool," Annie said looking absolutely distressed, "oh god has he started on it?"

Annie stood up so quickly she almost spilled her tea. She ran to the nearest window but saw nothing that would confirm her suspicion. At her outburst Hal let out a genuine laugh. The pool had been looming over Annie ever since Tom had started talking about it. She knew she should tell him that building a pool in the backyard was simply out of the question but she just didn't know how to break the news to him.

"No no," Hal called to her still smiling, the curve of his lips steady and sincere, "nothing like that though he has been talking about it every day at work. It drives me mad."

"Oh thank god," Annie said taking her seat again and sinking deep down into her chair letting out a huge breath.

Hal surveyed her. Perhaps Tom's surprise would be helpful. The poor ghost looked completely knackered.

"Feeling a bit tired lately?" Hal inquired politely.

Annie only nodded and wrapped her hands around the mug of tea. She almost started to raise it her lips but she didn't. She was dead and it didn't work that way anymore.

"I dunno what it is," Annie said a scowl settling on her features.

She looked petulant and young. It was a reminder for Hal just how young she actually was, Annie was an infant compared to him in age. He forgot sometimes.

"I get so tired sometimes," she continued, "and that doesn't make sense because..well.. I'm dead aren't I? And dead people shouldn't be able to get tired but I get tired. I get so very tired."

Hal frowned at her confession. He didn't like the thought of Annie being tired. More than helpful, Tom's surprise might be required.

"Sometimes I don't even feel like my feet are touching the ground," Annie said softly and Hal felt like she wasn't even talking to him anymore, she was just talking, "I forget that I'm still here. Everything else seems like a dream and I'm just waiting to wake up. I get the feeling that I might be transparent. And the worst part is, is that I don't care. I really don't care, and that scares me, Mitchell."

Everything was quiet after that. Hal didn't say a word and Annie was too lost in thought. She hadn't even been talking to him. She was talking to her dead lover. He didn't take offense, in fact Hal just found the whole thing very sad. Sad that she didn't see him and sad that she was all he could see.

"Oh gosh," Annie said snapping out of her reverie, "I'm sorry, I'm just rambling. What were you saying about Tom?"

She didn't even notice she what she had said. Hal shook his head and almost reached out to put his hand over her quivering one. He didn't, of course.

"No, Annie, please," Hal said putting a hand up to silence her, "don't be sorry for feeling a certain way. You've already seen how I can get. You can be honest with me, if you like."

It was a strange move for Hal. He had never been one for small talk or talk in general. Hal was a man of action but many things had changed since his arrival at Honolulu Heights.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Tom will-"

"We have an hour or so before Tom comes down," Hal said, "we're a team right? All of us are a team and we have to look out for each other."

"Yea," Annie said unsure at first but then smiled as he smiled, "yes you're right."

* * *

"And so I told him that I didn't want any bloody sweet potatoes," Annie said waving her hands about in a ridiculous manner, "I put my foot down, Hal."

She slammed her fist down on the table shaking the whole thing all the way through. Hal jumped up at the sound and looked from her fist back to her face, which was stern and almost vicious. His eyes were wide and he felt fear for his wellbeing.

"Need less to say," she said breaking the tension, "I went home with two bags."

Annie laughed and Hal smiled, tightlipped and toothless. The story had been amusing but Hal didn't understand how they had somehow fallen into a story swap. Annie telling stories from her time alive and Hal chipping in a strange anecdote of his time in the cafe, which was actually just a run through of the tasks he preformed there and one story of his time with Leo and Pearl. He didn't tell her about anything before that.

"Annie!" Tom called from the parlor.

"Oh no!" Annie said as soon as she heard him, "you didn't get to tell me what he was plannin'. Quick! Tell me now."

But Hal had no intention of doing so. He just slipped out of his seat making a beeline for the double doors.

"I never planned to," he said a small smug grin on this face.

"Hal get back here," Annie hissed as Tom called for her again.

She reached out her hands trying to grab onto his shirt but he expertly maneuvered around her out stretched arms. Annie glared at the swinging doubles doors that were left behind in the wake of Hal's escape.

"Anni- oh! Good mornin' Hal, 'ave you seen Annie about?" she heard Tom say and before Hal could give Tom an answer she rent-a-ghosted out to meet them.

"Here!" she said, "here I am."

"Good mornin' Annie," the young werewolf said; he was in an impeccable mood.

"Good morning," she said smiling back but the smile was large, abnormally so.

Tom didn't seem to notice or he just didn't care. He was far too pleased with himself. Annie glanced over at Hal who still had that stupid smug grin on his face. She made face at him and mouthed something intelligible.

"Annie," Tom said snapping Annie's attention back to the werewolf.

"Yes?" she said sweetly her smile back in place.

"Get out," Tom said simply.

"What?" Annie said completely taken aback.

"Get. Out." Tom enunciated and grabbed her shoulders pushing her in the direction of the door.

"Wait," she said trying her best to break free, "now wait just- Tom what are- WAIT!"

Tom stopped and let go of her shoulders. Annie turned swiftly almost losing her balance.

"What exactly do you think you're doing, Thomas?" Annie said breathing heavily.

"I'm gettin' you out of 'ere," Tom replied matter-of-factly.

"And  _why_  exactly are you doing that?" Annie said regaining her breath.

"You need to get out 'ah this place, Annie," Tom replied earnestly, "it ain't good for ya health stayin' cooped up in 'ere everyday. You need some fresh air, a change of scenery."

"What Tom is trying to say," Hal said, "is that you need a day off, Annie. I think we all do."

"You really do," Tom seconded, "you spend so much time trapped in 'ere."

" _Trapped_? I'm  **not**   _trapped_  in here," Annie said skeptical of their statements as true as it was, "I'm taking care of the house and  _Eve_. Remember? The baby that we keep up stairs?"

"Yes Annie but you also need some time to yourself and we need sometime to –  _bond_ ," Hal said as though he didn't like the way the word tasted on his tongue, "with little Eve. We are in a way her parents as well."

Annie was in shock but she snapped out of it instantly. There was no way in  _hell_  she was leaving Eve in the care of those two Hal barely knew how to hold her correctly.

"Ooooh no," Annie said marching past the two towards the stairs and when Tom moved to block her she just rent-a-ghosted right around him.

"Aaaannieee," Tom whined as she stomped her way up the stairs towards Eve's room.

"Well that went over well," Hal mumbled.

Tom just glared at him. He was actually quite crestfallen. Tom didn't know how to bake so he couldn't make a cake. He didn't have any money so he couldn't get her a gift or even card but Tom had hoped he could give Annie something. All he had though was time.

"If I have to get out," Annie said suddenly appearing at the bottom of the stairs pram in hand, "then we  _all_  have to get out."

Tom's eyes lit up and a smile grew wide and toothy as he realized what was going on.

"I think a day out would be lovely," Annie said, "now I'll start making sandwiches, Hal you get a bag together for Eve and Tom you take out the cooler."

Hal made a face and Tom ran out back to get the large blue cooler they kept out there. Now only Annie, Eve and Hal were left in the house.

"That was nice of you," Hal said, "to go along with all this."

"It was nice of him to think of it," Annie said smiling after the young werewolf, "it was nice of both of you."

Smiles were contagious there was scientific proof. So as Annie turned to smile at Hal who had been staring at her anyway the vampire couldn't help but smile back. The world was on the verge of ending and the Old Ones were coming for them but as Tom rummaged through all the junk out back and Eve sat cooing in her pram, Hal and Annie couldn't help but smile. The world hadn't ended yet and the Old Ones could wait.

"I better go that bag ready," Hal said.

"And I better start on the sandwiches," Annie said going to the kitchen and when she got there a thought occurred to her, "oh my gosh I'm going to need to make a million sandwiches!"


	6. A Day Out, Part 2

Tom ended up carrying Eve in her little baby carrier, which he stole. Hal had taken up the burden of the cooler because he had refused to wear the strange and "frankly humiliating contraption" that Eve was happily gurgling in. Annie unable to carry anything just walked between her two boys.

They actually looked ridiculous and stuck out like a sore thumb. A young man in a long coat and khakis with a baby strapped to his chest and a pale male with a look of utter discomfort on his face wearing a ridiculous pair of cheap sunglasses, people couldn't help but do a double take.

"Where shall we go then?" Annie chirped glancing from Tom to Hal, "we could go down to the ocean or take a walk in the park. Are you two even listening to me?"

Sure enough neither of the men replied. They looked straight on ahead and continued to walk not saying a word. Annie glanced from man to man confused by why they were ignoring her.

"If you lot don't let me in on the joke, I swear I'll – I'll," Annie said trying to find some kind of valid threat, "I'll just stop!"

And stop she did. She stood still and refused to walk any further. The two men stopped abruptly as well. Tom let out a sigh and Hal rolled his eyes.

"Anneh," Tom whispered to the side, "we can't talk to ya otherwise people will think we're barmy."

If Annie weren't dead she'd have blushed at that moment.

"Oh right," Annie said looking around at the people who couldn't see her before falling in step with the people who could, "sorry about that."

Annie laughed weakly and she could have sworn she saw the corner of Hal's lip twitch. She just hadn't been out much is all. And wasn't that the point of that day, the whole trip? To get her out and about, for Annie to see some sunlight or something like that. However, Annie couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit worried that perhaps the day would not go as smoothly as they had all planned.

"We were thinking the park, and then perhaps we could go down to the water once it's cooled down a bit," Hal mumbled through light lips, "as you can imagine I'm not really one for sun and sand."

Hal's lip had in fact twitched and if it wasn't for 55 years worth of self-restraint he would have even laughed. He  _enjoyed_  Annie and he enjoyed Tom and Eve. He was happy to spend the day with them though his rota was ruined for the day. Hal wasn't all that concerned. Perhaps routine need a rest, the rota needed a day off.

* * *

The park was lovely and people only showed mild concern when the saw the two men and the little white bundle that was strapped to Tom's chest. Truly they were an unusual sight but never let it be said that the good people of Barry were prejudiced against alternative life styles. And that bunch was the very definition of alternative.

"Oh I do love the park," Annie said as she stood aside and let the boys set up the picnic, "back when I was a student I used to skip class and just walk and walk in the park right off of campus."

Tom looked up from his task of putting out the blanket and grinned up at the ghost.

"You? Skippin' classes," he said, "don't sound very much like you, Anneh."

Annie made a face and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'll have you know, Tom," she replied, "I was  _quite_  the rebel back when I was student."

"I don't think I believe ya," Tom volleyed back as he set out the sandwiches.

Annie made a sound of disbelief. She looked to Hal for support. He wasn't much help, however.

"Tom's right, Annie," Hal said taking a spot on the blanket, "I just can't see you as a rebel. Rebel of course meant something quite different in my time but I'm assuming you mean delinquent. I can't see you as either."

Hal smiled up at her, a smug and playful expression. He had learned that smile from Pearl. She was a right smug little thing and Hal missed her.

"Well sit down boys," Annie said to the already seated duo, "and I will tell you the story of my life as a teenage hooligan."

Annie spread out her arms as though she were a performing magician readying her crowd for the great finale. Tom and Hal stole a doubtful glance at each other. Then Annie began to tell her tales.

"And they never figured out that there was no fourth pig?" Hal asked.

Annie shook her head unable to catch her breath in between giggles. Hal couldn't help but notice the way the light reflected off her eyes as glanced at him with a mischievous smile like she had a secret. A secret that he wanted to know, that he had been looking for since he had arrived at the house.

"No," she said finally, "for all I know they're still looking."

They fell into another lapse of laughter and when they calmed Tom spoke.

"Well Anneh I guess ya proved me wrong," he said his cheeks hurt from smiling so much, "you were a right criminal."

"And don't you forget it," Annie replied.

* * *

It was past noon by the time they decided to leave and to go to the pier. The light was softer when they reached the sea though it still burned Hal. He didn't say a word about it however. It was just one more sad truth of his condition.

"This will be Eve's first time seeing the ocean," Annie said nostalgia in her eyes, "George and Nina always talked about taking her but they never got the chance."

She and Hal had decided to walk down the pier but Tom had decided Eve needed to get bit of the feel of sand on her skin. Annie watched from above as the two, Tom and Eve, enjoyed the sun and sand. Eve on a blanket and Tom at her side, he could have been her father.

"We all had plans, such great plans," she said, "but they never came out quite right."

She wasn't talking about the plans that they had made out loud like George's lists or her rota. She was speaking of those other plans the ones they had made in secret, in the deepest most sacred parts of their hearts. These were the plans they had made for each other. Plans that they had whispered into the shells of ears when they thought no one was listening. The grandest of plans and all of them gone to waste.

"Plans have a nasty way of doing that," Hal replied.

Annie nodded in agreement and turned from the bittersweet scene. They walked in companionable silence down the pier. It was the same pier that she and Mitchell had visited. Oddly enough she didn't feel sad in that place. She felt content.

She glanced over at Hal who stared into the blue of the sea. Annie was pleased to see that he looked just as content as she felt.

"Anneh!," Tom called, "Hal!"

The two immediately stopped in their tracks. In half a second Annie was gone from Hal's side and down the beach next to Tom.

"What?" she said frantically, "what is it?"

Her hands were all over Tom and Eve searching for any kind of abrasion or injury. She patted Tom's shoulders and cheeks and ran her fingers over Eve's sparse hair.

"Are you hurt?" she said, "did someone hurt you?"

She glanced over Tom's shoulder checking for any predator or enemy.

"No, Anneh," Tom replied but she didn't stop her frantic movements, " _Annie_!"

She stopped stunned by his stern tone. Tom stared at her like he was disappointed.

"You're scarin' Eve," he said, "'sides we're fine. Eve an' I just wanted to show you this lovely shell we found. Isn't that right lil love?"

The baby cooed in response causing Tom to look down at her with such a tender expression Annie could barely stand to watch. She forgot sometimes just how much Tom loved that little girl. Just as much as she did, Annie imagined.

"I'm sorry," Annie apologized calming down, "I overreacted. It's just that – well- it is a very lovely shell. I think it's time we headed back home."

Tom nodded in agreement and bounced Eve on his hip. A second later Hal came jogging down the beach towards them.

"Is everything all right?" he said worried though nowhere near as frantic as Annie had been.

"Everything is fine," Annie said as she watched Tom walk away to retrieve the blanket, "we're going home now."

Hal was confused by the sudden change in plans. They still had a few hours before it got dark and he didn't really want to leave yet. He would never say it aloud but he liked the beach and he liked seeing Annie at the beach. The wind and the blue of the sea suited her.

"I've got everythin' packed away," said Tom when he returned.

Eve was once again strapped to his chest in her carrier. Tom handed Hal the cooler and the blanket and Hal took them still disappointed that they had to leave. There was a gloom over the two that Hal didn't quite understand.

"Did something happen?" Hal asked Annie.

"Nothing, Hal," Annie said, "I just overreacted is all. Let's go home."

Hal could only nod and walk besides her. Tom brought up the rear all the while talking and cooing the child.

* * *

By the time they got home the gloom had lifted and Annie seemed to be in a much lighter mood.

"Oh today was great wasn't it guys?" Annie said her cheeks looking almost flushed.

Hal thought he could almost see the evidence of the sun on her. Her skin just a few shades darker and her eyes just a little bit brighter but it wasn't and they weren't. Her cheeks weren't actually flushed. They couldn't ever be. These were small things that Hal noticed. Little ways to remind himself of what she was, of her limitations. He forgot sometimes.

"I'm glad you 'ad a nice day out, Annie," Tom said that lovely smile wide on his face, "but tha day's not over just yet."

Hal of course did not even think of attempting such a smile. Hal didn't do wide lovely smiles and he never had. He didn't envy his young friend; instead he enjoyed Tom's smiles, and found joy in his friend's joy.

"What do you mean?" Annie asked confused.

Hal smiled as Tom went over the kitchen and came back with a bag. They were going to surprise her with it once she got back from her day out.

"Here ya go!" Tom said gleefully handing Annie the little paper bag.

"Oh!" she said when she saw what was inside.

Stacked together were a bunch of Colin Firth films. She had seen them all already of course but Annie could never have enough Colin Firth.

"George tol' me once about 'ow you were in love with tha bloke," Tom said, "didn't know he was an actah at first but then I looked it up and I borrowed them from the library."

Annie couldn't stop her eyes from glossing. It was such a thoughtful gift. Small and moderate as it was, it was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her. Besides breaking her out of purgatory of course.

"Do ya' like it?" Tom said nervous at her silence.

"Oh yes Tom," Annie said swallowing her tears, "I love it."

Tom grinned at her answer. He was glad she was happy. Annie was such a nice lady always taking care of others and trying her best. She was such a lovely lady and Tom loved her. He loved her in the purest and simplest of ways. The way a child loves a mother, that's how Tom loved Annie.

"Which one shall we watch first?" Annie said excitedly.

* * *

In the middle of Pride and Prejudice Tom began to yawn and then so did Eve. She blinked wearily from her place across Tom's chest. The two seemed so in sync sometimes. Annie wondered if it was a werewolf thing but remembered that Eve was in fact not a werewolf at all.

"Oh it's way past her bedtime," Annie said rising to take the cooing baby upstairs to bed.

"Dun worry about that, Annie," Tom said already rising before Annie could even protest, "I getting' tired meself. I'll take 'er."

"Oh no. It's my turn on the rota, Tom. You don't have to do that," Annie said still bent on taking the baby.

"Naw, Annie," Tom said cradling the baby in his arms already the infant was half way gone, "I can take 'er. 'Sides me an' Eve are best mates practically. We do need our time, Anneh."

He stuck out his bottom lip and looked at Annie then to Eve then back to Annie. And then it seemed Eve decided to join in the game as she let out a low whine and looked up at Annie as well wearing an expression identical to Tom's. Annie could only smile at the charming picture. How could she ever say no?

"Thank you, Tom," she said leaning forward to peck him on the cheek, "for  _everything_. Today was absolutely lovely."

Tom nodded and smiled at her looking absolutely enamored; Annie could have that effect on people when she wasn't trying. Hal watched the two and couldn't help but smile as well. He seemed to be doing that quite a lot that day.

"Night, Hal!" Tom called to him and Hal waved him off.

It all felt so domestic, so normal and  _comfy_. They felt like a family and Hal couldn't deny that he was enjoying it. It had been so long, so very long since he had felt  _human_.

"Aw just look at them," Annie said mooning over the picture of Tom and Eve as the ascended the stairs.

She came around and clicked off the TV. She checked her mug and seeing that it had grown cold she decided to make herself a new cuppa but not before asking Hal if he wanted anything. He declined the offer.

Hal listened contentedly to the sounds of clinking and clanging in the kitchen. Things were going so well. Already his mind began working and weaving how things would go,  _should_  go. Eve growing up and going to school, Tom and Hal would work in the shop and maybe getting better jobs one day. And Annie would be there as well. She would be their mother, their comfort and just plain  _Annie_. She would be there to welcome them home.

Of course Hal wasn't stupid. The Old Ones were coming and were probably bringing with them the end of the world and with it the destruction his little make-believe family but he could dream. That's what humans did wasn't it? Dream, believe, plead for their lives.

"My boyfriend killed me," Annie said and Hal jumped when he heard her speak.

She walked around him to sit on the couch across from him.

A confused and shocked "What?" was Hal's reply.

"My boyfriend killed me," Annie repeated matter-of-factly.

Hal stared at her with an expression that Annie had come to know fairly well. It meant "what the bloody hell". George had his own special facial expression for that and Mitchell most definitely. Nina almost always wore her brand of "what the bloody hell" but that was mostly because she was surrounded by strange people.

"Your boyfriend. Killed you?" Hal said confused by her sudden admission, "Mitchell?"

"What?" Annie said taken aback by the thought, "no no not Mitchell.  _God_  no. Well I guess he wasn't my boyfriend, he was my fiancé if we're getting technical."

"I'm sorry  _who_  are we talking about again?" Hal said looking well put off and confused.

Hal didn't really like being confused but he figured it was something that came with the territory of being part of that household.

"Owen, my fiancé," Annie said sipping her tea, "he's the one who killed me."

Hal couldn't for the (un)life of him understand why she was telling him this. So in a very Hal-fashion he just asked.

"Why are you telling me this?" Hal said eyebrows slammed together and the right corner of his mouth quirked upward.

Annie knew this look as well. It said 'I don't think I quite understand and I don't like it'.

"I dunno," she said, "I guess I just wanted you to know."

Hal thought about it. All the ghosts he had met and he had met a few in his time and not one could he recall had ever told him how they died. Thinking about it Hal realized that it was a very personal thing to share. Death was an intimate act. Hal would know he had dealt it out enough. And here she was, Annie, the first ghost to ever tell him how she died.

"Thank you," Hal said and Annie almost laughed at how uncomfortable he looked.

Hal definitely didn't do intimacy.

"So is this going to become a  _thing_?" Hal asked.

"What?" Annie replied placing her steaming cup on the coffee table.

"The whole late night confessional," Hal said easing back into the chair he was sitting in.

The T.V. was off now, no more Colin Firth. Most of the lights had been turned off as the two living patrons of the house had gone to bed. It was just Hal and Annie. It was becoming habit.

"Dunno," Annie replied honestly, "this is just what people do Hal. When they trust each other, when they  _live_  with each other, they tell each other _t_ _hings_."

"You do realize you just said "each other" three times in one sentence," Hal pointed out.

"Well," Annie said trying to think of a good quip just like George would have, "it was for emphasis."

It was a decidedly unsure quip and not quite done with that special George  _flare_  but Annie wasn't George. It was an Annie quip and she was satisfied with it.

"Oh," was Hal's reply, he paused and mulled over something for a bit before continuing, "I died in battle."

" _Battle_?" Annie said, "how very noble."

"Not at all," Hal replied, "I wasn't fighting for a cause or because of some holy mandate. I just wanted to fight, shed some blood if I could before I died. My death and what led to it was only the beginning of my malicious deeds. I've done worse than just shed blood, Annie. I enjoyed it."

Annie went silent. She couldn't meet his eyes. And yes perhaps she was afraid, upset, disturbed but then she realized something. The Hal who slaughtered thousands maybe more, the Hal who tortured and murdered, the Hal who relished in the pain of his victims, that Hal was the same Hal sitting before her. Just as the Mitchell who had killed those people on the train, and countless victims in his existence was the same Mitchell who had loved her and kissed her who ate her toast and drank her tea.

They hadn't actually changed you don't just shuck off that kind of filth. They would always be monsters it was the truth of their biology and yet somehow she had still loved Mitchell and she still trusted Hal. Annie realized that she never really came to terms with loving Mitchell,  _all_  of Mitchell, before he died and perhaps she never would but she had loved him. No amount of blood could wash that away.

"Does that scare you?" Hal said coolly just the slightest shadow of that malice and danger he had been talking about before in his tone.

He waited for the hammer. He waited for prosecution; he prayed for it. Hal wanted her to hate him. It made more sense if she hated him.

"Yes," Annie said, "Yes it scares me, Hal but a lot of things scare me."

Annie looked up at him a loaded question was in his eyes.

_Can you handle that? Can you accept all of me?_

The answer was in her gaze.

_I'm not sure but I'm going to try. I will try._

And that was good enough.

"There are a lot of things to be scared of," Hal replied.

She had never quite accepted Mitchell. She had only like the nice parts, the cool demeanor, the sharp jawline, the way he was terrible at crosswords and the way he said her name. She had cherished the good parts and ignored the bad parts. That's how it had always worked before.

 _Maybe he hits you and makes you feel like shit but he's got a good job and future and he_ loves _you. Calls you his._

_Maybe he's addicted to blood, killed hundreds of people and will probably do so again but he's your best friend. You love him. You call him yours._

Her love for Mitchell was nearly cruel in its naivety. Annie realized that now. But she  _had_  loved him, all of him even the nasty and bloody parts. She had loved his sins as well but now it was too late to say the words, to tell him.

_I accept you, John Mitchell. However you are, however you come to me, I accept you._

She was too late for Mitchell but not for Hal. Annie would try and she vowed one day she'd grow up enough to accept all of him. Blood and fire or dominos and Motown he was still Hal; he was still her friend.

Slowly but surely Annie was beginning to see him as more than just a threat or an ally, more than a lodger or a responsibility. She was beginning to see him as Hal, just Hal.


	7. Chapter 7

Hal never knew that someone could talk so much. Pearl could certainly run her mouth when provoked, but for the most part the last 55 years of Hal's existence had been a quiet one. But Annie, Annie was the very definition of noise and chatter and  _life_. Which, when he thought about it, was quite impressive for a dead woman.

Sometimes she'd just talk about her day or explain the ins and outs of the house rules, which were immense and complicated. She'd talk so much he had to push his sleep schedule back just to give her enough time.

But Hal didn't mind for the most part. He didn't actually need sleep and he knew she liked to be heard. At times his heart broke at just how much she wanted to be heard. Sometimes she'd fire off thoughts and memories to him like a starving child would grab for bread. It was times like those that Hal found it hardest to listen sometimes she'd reach out and touch the air besides him as if to say 'please'. And it was hard at first but he reached back saying 'yes, yes here I am'.

His favorite time to listen to her was when she would share a memory from before John Mitchell and the others. Memories of the first time she rode a bike (September 14, 1992) or of that one time her pants fell down in the middle of class (third grade, 1993). She told him about the first boy she ever kissed (Chris Crowley Summer of 1997) and how they held hands in the sun. They sat together besides the public pool so close that their skin stuck together from the heat and sweat. They only kissed once and it was clumsy and strange but Annie still blushed as she told him the story.

All of these things Hal knew about Annie. Briefly Hal would wonder if John Mitchell had known those things about her as well. A small part of him hoped not.It was like she was giving him pieces of herself and at first he had been overwhelmed. He didn't know what to do with them all but eventually he figured it out. He wasn't supposed to do anything. He was just supposed to listen.

Hal was up late one night a couple of weeks after their time at the beach. It was far past the time he had set for sleep on his rota. He simply could not get to bed. He could feel the electricity in the air and taste the danger on the wind. The beasts were moving and the demons prowled. Hal knew this and that knowledge was what kept him up that night sitting at the kitchen table tracing war plans on a floral tablecloth.

"Isn't it past your bedtime or something?" Annie said flippantly as she bustled into the kitchen laundry bin in hand.

Hal didn't even start at her sudden presence. He just continued to glare at repetitious flowers blooming across the table. He despised that floral-patterned tablecloth. It was so tacky. Surely there had to be some other tablecloth out there more suitable more  _tasteful_ than the pink and green one that Hal had to endure everyday.

"It's not a bedtime," he snapped back, "I've told you Annie, I've  _explained_ to you that it is a part of my schedule and that schedule is one of the only things keeping me from tearing this miniscule little island apart."

Out of the corner of his eye Hal could see Annie's reaction. She looked as though she had been slapped. She still forgot sometimes that she wasn't talking to Mitchell or George. She forgets that Hal is nothing like them: he's brittle and if she's not careful anything could break him.

"Hey, I'm sorry," she said putting down the basket of laundry that she was just about to fold, "I didn't mean it like that. I know you're trying."

Hal sighed. He didn't like being impatient with Annie or being annoyed with her. He hated it but he was hanging on by his fingernails even now.

"I know you know," Hal replied.

He always liked to say that even though he'd only had the chance a few times before and usually while he was distressed. He liked to remind himself that he knew things about Annie. He liked to say aloud that there is someone who has given him secrets and stories so much so that he just knows. Hal likes to say out loud that he knows Annie.

"Is it your 'condition'?" Annie putting her forefinger and middle finger up in a way that made them look somewhat like fangs, "are you feeling a bit peckish?"

Hal made a face.

"That has to be the worst impression of fangs I have ever seen," he said scoffing at her mockery.

"Well  _all right_ ," Annie snipped putting extra emphasis on that 't' a sign that she's just a little bit miffed, "we can't all be Humphrey Bogart can we?"

Hal's response was to snort and sneer but he couldn't help but smile afterwards at the way she scowled at him. He half expected her to stick her tongue out at him.

"You're right I suppose," he said, "though if anyone had any decency they'd at least try."

Annie laughed at just how serious he was about that statement. If Annie had a passionate love affair with Colin Firth then Hal was very happily married to Humphrey Bogart. She could only afford quiet and modest laughter what with the hour being so late. Tom and Eve still needed their peace and quiet but she had tears at the corner of her eyes by the time she calmed down.

They sat together for while neither one speaking. This was the other side of their relationship. Sometimes more than memories and more than truth, they needed silence.

"Something's been bothering you though," Annie said breaking the silence, "it's about the Old Ones isn't it."

She could be quite perceptive when she wasn't trying to deceive herself.

"I've been thinking about it too," she continued, "and I know that Tom's been worried, I think he's been planning and half of me wants to know and other half – the other half is too scared to ask. Sometimes I really don't know what to do with him. He can be so difficult when he wants to be."

Hal wondered briefly if Annie realized how much of a mother she sounds like. Even though Tom was already past his teen years she sounded like a mother dealing with a rebellious adolescent.

"And then there's you," Annie said pinning him with her dark eyes, "you're even worse with your enigmatic, oooh I'm old as dirt and I've got a proper accent so I've got to hold the whole darn world on my shoulders. Don't think I don't notice just how many times you've stayed up past your bedtime or the way you watch us like you're saying goodbye. I notice these things Hal. I do and I just wish you two would talk to me."

At first Hal was shocked, just utterly shocked, by the sudden burst of frustration and insight. Annie walked away from the abandoned laundry bin to lean against the counter.

"We talk all the time, Annie," Hal replied rising to go to her side, "every day in fact. It's on my rota. Supper, post-supper yoga deep breathing session, and then listen to Annie talk about her day."

He bumped his shoulder against her shoulder. It was something that Pearl always did to him when he was being especially difficult. He saw her do it to Leo as well. It was a way to say 'I'm here, don't you ignore me'.

"I just feel like it's George and Mitchell all over again. I always felt so useless, like some little housewife sitting at home twiddling my thumbs praying that my boys come home from the war," she said no more anger left just exhaustion, "but I'm not useless and this is my fight just as much as it is yours or Tom's."

Hal leaned into her. There was no heat between them and Hal liked that. Heat meant blood and blood meant violence. There was no place for violence between them; there was no room. He couldn't hurt her even if he tried and he loved that about her.

"You're right, Annie," Hal whispered into her hair, "but do try to be patient with us. We're all learning still."

"I'm scared, Hal. I feel frightened every day," Annie said resting her head on his shoulder.

Hal didn't tense or fidget at the gesture. He hummed in agreement because he was frightened as well.

"But I'd tear down the whole world before I let them hurt us, Hal." Annie said moving away from him so that he could see the brutal honesty in her eyes. "I won't let them rip my family apart, not again."

It was easy for Hal to forget that Annie wasn't human. She was sweet and adorably maladroit but there was steel in her, stretched so thin and long that it could wrap around and slice the world in half. For all the fear and hype that vampires and werewolves got Hal knew that Annie was a force of nature. And if vampires craved blood and werewolves violent release then ghosts craved purpose.

Annie needed her family the way Hal needed blood and the way Tom needed the full moon every month. And one could say that her needs and addictions were not cruel, uncouth and barbarous like his and Tom's, but when she spoke about tearing worlds and buildings down Hal couldn't help but disagree.

Annie could be just as dangerous and just as deadly as he or Tom. He'd see it with his own eyes.

"And I believe you," Hal said in earnest. "I know you'd do anything to protect Tom and Eve."

"And you," Annie said leaning back against the countertop. "I'd protect you too."

The two stood silent together for a while. Annie eventually put her head back on Hal's shoulder and closed her eyes. Hal didn't say it out loud but her words made him feel safer. He trusted her to save him. When the Old Ones came, because there was no escaping that they  _were_ coming, but when they did come he knew she would save him.

He trusted her.

* * *

"I've got work do," Hal sang as he mopped the floors.

He was in a surprisingly good mood. After his chat with Annie the night before his conscience was not completely cleared but it was in a much better condition than previously. Hal wondered what he could do to thank her.

"I've got work dooooo," Hal belted out playing out a  _bitchin'_ broom-guitar solo as he mopped up the linoleum floors of the café.

He thought he heard the jingle of the little bell that signaled the arrival. Turning around he came face to face with the broad pink smile of the very gray ghost he had been thinking of swaddling a sleeping Eve in her arms.

"Annie!" Hal exclaimed noticing the sleeping baby swaddling in the cotton of her cardigan.

Then he noticed her pointing to her left.

Surely enough to Annie's left was young woman standing before him dressed in a strange yet oddly fashionable combination of shorts, flannel and leather. She was beautiful and absolutely confused.

" _No_ ," the young woman said the left corner of her magenta lips curling up the side of her face, "it's Alex but good try."

"Apologies!" he exclaimed, "I-I didn't hear you come in."

Hal quickly moved past the two women to turn the radio off.

"Oh no worries," she said, "I – oh shit."

Hal glanced at Annie who made a scandalized face at the profanity. She pushed the sleeping baby further into her chest as if to shield the child's virgin ears. Then he followed the line of the other woman's sight to the muddy tracks across the floor. He frowned inwardly but cheered up at the thought of more work.

She tried to apologize but Hal assured her that it was quite all right. He asked if there was anything he could help her with all the while glancing to the ghost who had seated herself in one of the booths. Annie cradled Eve in her arms and stared lovingly at the child hidden in the folds of her clothing. She looked like the Holy Mother with the sun shining in her hair and eyes transfixed on her child.

Because as much as Annie assured Hal that George and Nina were Eve's parents in Hal's eyes the child would always be Annie's.

He was so distracted by his housemate that he didn't notice Alex moving his condiments around talking about cars and sports. He repositioned the salt, pepper, and ketchup she had just moved and replied that he didn't really keep up with rugby.

"Oooh okay you want the big guns then," she said smiling smugly, "pull my finger."

Hal knew of course what this joke was about. He did still have a brain and it wasn't like the joke was all that new. He looked to Annie for some kind of moral support or guidance but she was not paying attention to the conversation. He felt embarrassed by the brashness of the jest. This is what young women thought it took to speak to a male? Farting and rugby, is that what men were made of now?

At any rate Hal wanted none of it.

"Look I'm sorry," he said, "I'm – I may have misled you. I was just being friendly."

He turned away to fix the tea.

"Same here," she said laughing and trying to play it off.

But Hal was no fool. He had seduced hundreds and killed all of them and more; he knew a pass when he saw one. This was only proven further by her questioning of girlfriends and boyfriends. Hal had the pleasure to enjoy his share of both but currently he did not partake of either and he told her as much.

"Aaah you're religious," she said in a condescending tone as if faith translated to ignorance, "hence your blend of happiness and sexual repression."

He thought he heard a soft chuckle and sure enough when he glanced over Alex's shoulder he saw Annie with her hand over her mouth. Her eyes shined with mischief. He pulled a face at her that said "don't you  _dare_ laugh at this". She continued to watch them but had the decency and logic to catch her giggles between her teeth and tongue.

It had been literally centuries since Hal could have been considered a virgin and even longer since he had believed in any god. But at the thought of god and religion he couldn't help but picture Tom, Eve and Annie. The three of them at the park or watching Antique Roadshow.

If his religion had a face it would be like cocoa powder framed by dark curls dipped in sunlight and eyes that laughed at his discomfort. His place of worship was a worn down bed and breakfast in Barry.

"No," he replied refuting her hypothesis because he didn't reject her because of his friends.

"Oh! oh you just," she said disappointed and just a tad bit surprised, "you just don't fancy me."

He immediately looked up at the young woman feeling uncomfortable. She was actually very pretty and she seemed sweet to some extent but he couldn't imagine loving her. Not because of her or particularly because of him. There was no reason to not to love her that wasn't the problem. The problem was the he couldn't find room for her in his life. All spots were occupied. So he said nothing in response. There was no point in wounding the young woman's pride any further. Instead Hal went back to work and tried his best to put the covers on with as much care as he would for any customer but Alex grew impatient.

"Thanks for the tea," she said before ripping the cup covers from his hand and hurrying out the door.

"Nice to meet you," Hal called weakly after her ever polite.

"Obviously," she said under her breath and then she was gone with the tinkle of a bell.

Hal sighed to himself annoyed at his folly. He thought briefly to turn the radio back on but then decided that it no longer fit his mood. He looked to Annie who was still seated in her booth besides the window. He went to her and sat in the booth across.

With a sigh he said, "Hello, Annie."

She offered a smile in response but remained quiet. Hal wondered if he should speak but he decided not to. The blinds were only slightly open and he thought that he would like to trace the curves of the shadows the light casted over her cheeks and jawline. His fingers twitched but he didn't move. He didn't touch her.

"Is it always that difficult," she said, "with you and the customers I mean."

"What do you mean 'difficult'?" Hal said offended he thought given the circumstance he was damn good at his job.

"I mean is it always that difficult to deal with people for you?" Annie replied, "and do keep your voice down I only just got Eve to sleep before I got here."

Hal nodded but then a thought hit him.

"Why  _are_ you here by the way?" he asked avoiding her question.

It was the first time that Annie had ever visited his place of work at least when he was working. Once before she had to run Tom's lunch out to the café but besides that she had never come to see either he or Tom while they were at work.

"Tom came by the house and asked me to tell you he would be coming in late today for his shift," she replied.

"You could have just called," Hal said though he was glad to see Annie.

"I guess I just wanted to see you," Annie said but then realizing what she just said began to backtrack, "I mean I wanted to see where you and Tom work. Can't have my boys working in some shady dive can I?"

" _Shady dive_? Annie, even  _I_ know that language is outdated," Hal said with his trademark tight-lipped smile. "I wanted to see you too."

If Annie could blush her face she would have been a strawberry. If she had a heart it would have burst.

"I want to thank you for last night," Hal said and then Annie's eyes got huge, "I mean about the talk – no! - I didn't mean – I just – "

Both were reduced two bumbling idiots trying to avoid eye contact. Annie was glad that Eve slept like a log and wasn't able to see two of her caretakers looking like complete arses.

"I want to thank you for talking to me last night and reassuring me," Hal said regaining his composure, "you saw one of your own in distress and you efficiently negated the problem. You have good leadership skills, Annie."

Annie sat and processed what Hal had just said before bursting out with laughter. He could be so formal.

"My goodness, Hal!" Annie exclaimed still laughing good naturedly, "we're not in the army. We're just housemates you can just say 'thanks, mate' if you like."

"We're more than housemates, Annie," Hal replied serious as ever.

Annie quieted at his genuine tone. He could be so sincere.

"Yes," Annie said hoping that he saw that she was just as genuine, "we are much more than just housemates. We're family."

Hal smiled at her statement but he also heard a ringing in his ears like the sound of coin dropping into the hollow mouth of a well. They were family and family was a wonderful thing. Family could be a group of whores and Home can be a brothel. Family could be a pack of murderers and thieves and Home could be the gap between sanity and desire. Family could be a werewolf and a ghost and Home can be by the sea.

But sometimes home is a person and in Hal's case home was a woman with cocoa skin and dark curls. Home was a young man with a funny accent and a little baby girl who could save the world. Annie was his home and his family and that should be enough shouldn't it?

**Author's Note:**

> About Annie's story:  
> It was based on this senior prank that was done at my old high school. A bunch of the seniors brought up some pigs from a farm and tied sashes around their middles number 1, 2, 3, & 5 and then let them loose on campus. They didn't do a lot of damage beyond scaring the crap out of people and eventually they were all caught and sent back to the farm but the real joke was that there was no fourth pig and the administration spent weeks trying to find it and were absolutely confounded by where it could have gone. It was a huge thing and people put of signs and everything looking for #4.


End file.
